As the member of Parliament for Dartmouth I am proud to say that I represent the largest indigenous black communities in Canada, in Preston, North Preston, Cherrybrook and Lake Loon. The Preston communities have a rich and compelling history. It has contributed greatly to the culture of Nova Scotia and indeed all of Canada. Unfortunately for the rest of the country, much of this cultural heritage has been unwritten, instead being passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth.

Students of Cole Harbour High have sought to change this by using modern communications technologies. As a project for Black History Month students have created a site on the Internet's world wide web to give millions of computer users across Canada and around the world a glimpse of this rich heritage.

I ask the House to join with me in congratulating the students involved in this project for their tremendous efforts to bring Nova Scotia's black history to the world.

Mr. Speaker, we cannot accept that, in his budget, the Minister of Finance is once again attacking the poor while leaving untouched the tax privileges enjoyed by the rich in our society.

That approach, which proposes no tax reform, perpetuates inequities. There is nothing in this budget to eliminate the tax treaties signed with countries considered tax havens, thus allowing large corporations to avoid taxes. There is nothing as well about flags of convenience used by Canadian shipowners and the government itself so that they can employ foreign sailors who pay no taxes to Canada.

To top it all off, the Minister proposes to tackle family trusts only in 1999, while rich families use this loophole to avoid paying their fair share to the government. As radio anchorman Joël le Bigot said, if you hit the humble, you are ready for the federal government.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the finance minister delivered his budget and in so doing missed a glorious opportunity.

Canadians want hope. They want truth. They want leadership. But where is the hope when we discover that the compound interest on the deficit the finance minister is projecting, on top of our already huge debt, will cancel out the savings from the cuts announced by the minister? The minister could not even muster the strength to tell us when we will have a balanced budget.

Canadians want the truth. They want to know what will happen to their social programs as compound interest continues to eat up an ever larger share of their tax dollars simply because the government could not make the hard decisions in the budget. On this issue the minister is silent.

Finally, they want leadership. They want a government that will make personal sacrifices. Canadians resent a government that cuts the public service, ups taxes and allows overspending to jeopardize old age security but does not have the character to give up what is the richest, most extravagant pension plan that taxpayers' money can buy.

Mr. Speaker, this budget leaves farmers reeling in western Canada. It has the effect of a hurricane on agriculture. It will leave a trail of destruction and devastation throughout rural Canada.

It will cost rural families one-third of their net income and one-third the value of their land. Farmers work hard to put food on our tables and only ask to be treated fairly. The Liberal government responds by attacking farmers with ruthless cuts.

The minister of agriculture has betrayed rural Canadians by taking away the Crow benefit, reducing dairy subsidies by 30 per cent and abandoning more rail lines.

Farmers are now trapped between dwindling incomes and little prospect of selling their farms. The treatment the government has shown to rural Canada is unforgivable and will cause

permanent damage to what was once the proud breadbasket of this land. This is a devastating budget for western Canadians and a shameful day for a Liberal government that promised more.

Mr. Speaker, with Canada's health care system at a crossroads, the Prime Minister has wisely established the National Forum on Health to develop a vision for Canada's health system into the 21st century. This vision must be capable of achieving a balance between care and health promotion, prevention and protection measures.

From various backgrounds and regions of the country, members of the health forum are seeking to identify national priorities and encouraging dialogue among Canadians on medium and long term health issues. Over the coming months they will focus discussion and assist in developing strategies to improve the health of Canadians.

I am proud that a member of the London community was appointed to the health forum. Ms. Shanti Radcliffe brings to the forum her experience in community based health for youth, women, seniors and immigrants. I commend Ms. Radcliffe and all members of the health forum as they help to ensure Canada has the best health care system in the world.

They know it is easy to cry for cuts but more difficult to ensure that any deficit reduction is fair and equitable. The budget ensures fairness. They know it is easy to criticize, but more difficult to make the good and necessary decisions which the government has made. They know that it is easy to release figures and offer ideas based on principle rather than reality. Yesterday's budget recognizes that deficit reduction will affect the lives of real people.

The people of Guelph-Wellington are not looking for the easy solutions found in 1-900 numbers and cable programs. They believe in this country and our ability to overcome our problems. They want Canada to succeed. They wanted a tough budget. They wanted spending reductions. They wanted fairness. For their sake, we have delivered.

Mr. Speaker, a sovereign Quebec would be a country of intolerance, where democracy would be trampled on and ideological dissidence could be equated with treason, depending on the outcome.

When someone like Bourgault brands as racist the anglophones who would democratically vote against their proposal, that is one thing. When someone like Landry says that there is no place for multiculturalism in Quebec society, that is another, but when a democratically elected member of the House maintains that newly arrived Quebecers should not have the right to express their views or vote on such a vital question as the future of their country, that is unacceptable.

On behalf of all English-speaking and newly arrived Quebecers who have chosen to settle, to live and to raise their children in Canada and in Quebec, I demand an apology from the hon. member for Louis-Hébert.

I want to remind the Bourgaults and the Parés of this world that they also come from-

Dear colleagues, when making such statements or expressing such views, we must refrain from attacking individual members of this House. I would ask each of you not to use the names of the members of Parliament, just the names of their riding.

Yesterday, the Liberal government announced in its budget that it intends to cut old age pensions as early as 1997. The budget tabled yesterday is proof positive that the biggest threat to old age pensions and social programs comes from the federal government, not the Quebec government.

Judging by the government's actions, this direct attack on the elderly, the unemployed and welfare recipients is only just beginning. The chairman of the no side, Michel Bélanger, who has been trying to scare people by saying that the nasty separatists want to cut old age pensions, must truly be disheartened.

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General recently stated some program spending of the department of Indian affairs fails to meet strategy objectives, exhibits management inadequacies, lacks appropriate performance and evaluation information and thus impedes accountability.

In addition, the department has not published an annual report since 1992. This deprives us of an opportunity to properly scrutinize efficiency of program delivery.

The federal budget calls for spending reductions in all federal departments except for Indian affairs. The government is asking Canadians to share in deficit reduction yet is increasing spending by 12 per cent over three years for Indian affairs. Much of Indian affairs' program spending is outside of constitutional, legal or policy commitments.

Given these concerns, the budgeted increase in Indian affairs funding is unacceptable and unfair.